You might not follow inside Catholic baseball. I wouldn’t blame you. Lately it has recalled the infamous 1962 Mets, who won only 40 games while losing 120. Their manager, Casey Stengel, famously asked the team, “Can’t anybody here play this game?”

But the latest wild pitch and lost game are important, both to Catholics and other Christians.

There’s a famous, media-savvy priest, James Martin. He’s the kind of man whom Martin Scorcese calls up to consult on movies like Silence. Martin appears on Stephen Colbert, mocking conservatives and roguishly giving the heavy metal “devil horns” salute. He serves as a special advisor to Pope Francis. All this, while he’s pitching himself to the rich and aggressive LGBT lobby as their champion inside the church.

Poor, Poor, Pitiful Me

But he’s also expert at casting himself as a persecuted victim. Criticize him for any of his nasty statements, and you’ll see that. Point out that he encouraged a priest to develop pre-marriage materials for same-sex couples. Or that he thinks it’s fine for gay couples to kiss during the “sign of peace” at Mass. Or that he incessantly undermines and mocks the timeless Jewish-Christian tradition on sexual morality, while winking at serious evil. Then you’ll see him over on the fainting couch, pretending that he’s been bullied.

He’s very good at this act. And media, both liberal Catholic and secular, eat it up like popcorn. Two weeks ago, Martin responded to critics at the website CatholicVote by pretending that their criticisms amounted to threats of violence. He even got them suspended from Twitter. When prolife activist Austin Ruse mocked this act of schoolgirl snitching and lying by calling it “pansified,” Martin cast himself as the victim of homophobic bullying.

But when he has the whip hand, Martin’s not ashamed to “out” dead priests and insinuate that his faithful Christian critics are latently homosexual. He encourages other priests to “come out,” but when observers ask him about his own sexuality, he coyly declines to comment. (Original article in The Stream here).

First Things Senior Editor Matthew Schmitz points out that Martin and his allies tried to silence him by contacting his employer when he criticized Martin’s book.

May God have mercy on Fr. James Martin! I believe that he sincerely believes what he is doing the right thing and is well intentioned. But, he is giving those who live disordered lives hope that the church will be inclusive of them while they are still practicing and living in a state of sin. This is so wrong.

May God have mercy on Fr. James Martin! I believe that he sincerely believes what he is doing is the right thing and is well intentioned. But, he is giving those who live disordered lives hope that the church will be inclusive of them while they are still practicing and living in a state of sin. This is so wrong.